The present invention relates generally to the field of poultry processing and, in its most preferred embodiments, to the field of apparatus and methods for portioning poultry wings.
Chicken wings, marketed under names including "buffalo wings" and "hot wings", have become a popular appetizer and snack food at many bars and restaurants. In preparing "buffalo wings", "hot wings", and the like, an entire wing is first removed from the body of the chicken at the first major joint. Next, the portion of the wing between the first and second major joints, known as a "drumette", is severed from the remainder of the wing by cutting through the second major joint. Then, by cutting through the wing's third major joint, the portion of the wing between the second and third major joints, known as the "flat", is separated from the remaining portion of the wing, known as the "tip". The "drumette" and "flat" are subsequently cooked in specially prepared sauces to produce "buffalo wings", "hot wings", and the like, while the "tip" is discarded or used for other purposes.
The portioning of chicken wings into "drumettes", "flats", and "tips" may be done manually by a worker using a sharp knife. However, manual portioning subjects the worker to the danger of being wounded by the knife. In addition, manual portioning is time consuming and too inefficient if a great number of wings must be separated into portions. Therefore, a number of attempts have been made to develop automatic portioning machines, including the machine described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,653 issued to Gasbarro.
Automatic portioning machines have met with mixed success. The automatic machines can portion a great number of wings in a given amount of time, but suffer from problems manifested by poor product quality and a subsequently high product discard rate. The underlying problems appear to arise from at least two sources. First, chicken wings vary in size from one wing to the next. Second, the existing machines (such as that of the Gasborro patent) do not readily allow for adjustments to accomodate size variations in wings. Thus, using an existing automatic portioning machine, a first wing may be properly portioned into a "drumette", "flat", and "tip" as the machine cuts cleanly through the second and third major joints of the wing. However, the same machine may miss the joints and cut through the bones of a second wing of a different size. Cutting the bones exposes the marrow and under present United States Department of Agriculture regulations, wing portions having exposed bone marrow are considered unfit for human consumption.
Attempts at providing adjustedable cutting assembly within the existing wing portioning machines have proven, for the most pan, to be difficult and insufficient. For example, due to the structural constraints of existing machines, adjustments to the cutting assemblies frequently result in the cutting blades frequently striking and cutting or shredding plastic of the plastic, restraining means that is often employed to hold the wings in position during portioning. United States Department of Agriculture regulations require that the restraining means be replaced whenever an inspector discovers a restraining means damaged in this way by excessive blade contact. Furthermore, since the restraining means often utilized in machines such as the Gasbarro machine is central to the machine and of one-piece, drum-like construction, a machine owner may incur significant costs associated with the virtual demolition and reconstruction of the entire machine necessary to replace the damaged restraining drum.